It is already known that some of sulfonanilide derivatives having 4,6-dimethoxypyrmidine have a high herbicidal activity (see JP-A-11-60562 and WO00/06553). It is also known that, in production thereof, a substituted aniline compound is useful as an important intermediate.
Meanwhile, processes for producing a substituted aniline compound which is an important intermediate for sulfonanilide derivative having a high herbicidal activity, are disclosed (see JP-A-7-48359, WO96/41799). These processes each utilize a reaction which is disadvantageous in industrial application; therefore, it has been desired to develop a process which can produce an intended substituted aniline advantageously in industry.